ST. PETERSBURG (Bellona Web): At 11:07 St. Petersburg time today, Tuesday 20 October, Judge Golets entered the court room with his two lay jurors. The Nikitin trial begun with a full audience, but was closed to the public after only 30 minutes.
The court room was crowded with observers and journalists, as the judge entered to start the trial against Aleksandr Nikitin. The audience counted more than 100 people.
The proceedings started with the judge asking whether Aleksandr Nikitin was comfortable, presenting the defence and the prosecution, and whether there were any objections to his chosen lay jurors. The defence said that they feared FSB influence upon the jurors. The judge then assured that this was not the case, and that he would make sure things stayed that way. The prosecutor, Gutsan, was accepted as such by Nikitin and his defence.
After further formalities, such as establishing Nikitin's identity and social status, the issue of highest expectation among the audience was raised: Will the proceedings be open? The defence referred to Judge Golets already having released the secret decrees to the defence - this happened the night before - and thus claimed the proceedings should be kept open. Gutsan objected to this, and the judges retired at 11:35 to confer. At 12:20 they returned to the court room, announcing that the court will be closed to the public for the following part of the proceedings.
At the time of writing it is not clear whether all of the proceedings
will be closed, or just chosen parts. Check this site soon for further
information as we get them.
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